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The sun cuts its ecliptic from the past into the west
From orient to accident, our history insists
That we must trip the light sadistic 'til this west is finally won
Just following, just following, just following the sun

I drove into Los Angeles, crusading for my face
To find my fate in acetate, to join the constellations
O, the strip was strewn with scripture and the solemn vows of fun
Just following, just following, just following the sun

Good morning, California, I'm the chosen one
From the flutter of the shutter to the thunder of the gun
From the valley to the alley, let the western will be done
Just following, just following, just following the sun

If you want to wage a holy war you make a swift attack
Keep your gods in your heart and the sun at your back
Until you're standing on Redondo Beach, no place left to run
Just following, just following, just following the sun

Well yes, the west's a fucking mess, but where's a hero supposed to start
When you know that only death will make your life a work of art
So we scuttle to the screen test while it all just falls apart
Just following, just following, just following our heart

Good morning, California, I'm the chosen one
From the flutter of the shutter to the thunder of the gun
From the valley to the alley, let the western will be done
Just following, just following, just following the sun

Track Name: Lonely Night

Baby, it's a lonely, lonely night
Baby, it's a lonely, lonely night
There ain't no wind to shake the trees, no moon to shine its light
Baby, it's a lonely, lonely night

Girl, I know you're out there having fun
Girl, I know you're out there having fun
Gonna sit here in this chair polishing this gun
Girl, I know you're out there having fun

Baby, it's a lonely, lonely life
Baby, it'a a lonely, lonely life
The pain you get for doing wrong is the same for doing right
Baby, it's a lonely, lonely life

Track Name: French Wife

Well, she came back home and found me dead
At least that's what the paper said
'Course, it ain't like I could tell it my way
Hell, I don't even know where you go
To get cyanide in New Mexico
Babette, you are a clever little lady

I met her when I used to work
On weekends up in Albuquerque
She was just a coed from overseas
And I never studied art the way
Them queers all do in Santa Fe
But Babette, I know perfection when I see it

And you might suggest and I might agree
That she was way too good for me
And why the hell'd she marry such a man
Could be she thought Americans
Are all Cary Grants and Errol Flynns
Folks got some weird ideas about this land

Now don't cry, Princess, I forgive you
I'll go run right up to heaven and plead your case
I ain't the choicest guy to live with, God knows
But tomorrow's gonna be a better place

Well, my funeral came, I saw her weep
And hell, you know that's kinda sweet
I mean, that's how you know they really care
They laid my flesh in Chamberine
It ain't bright, but hell, it's clean
And this may be the best I've dressed since we were married

It's hard to make a marriage work
Some days are bright, some days are dark
Some days they just wake up and hate your face
I was probably just a redneck clown
Folks probably think you married down
But what the hell, I love you when you're crazy

Now don't cry, princess, I forgive you
I'll go run right up to heaven and plead your case
I ain't the choicest guy to live with, God knows
But tomorrow's gonna be a better place

Track Name: Lay Me Down, Let Me Down

Cupid said to Psyche, "Girl, I packed up the car
I'm going out west to be a movie star"
Psyche said, "Knock em dead, you always had that charm
And such a Roman sense of entertainment"

Now Cupid's got the world eating out of his hand
And we're both still waiting for our big chance
Our big screen, our big romance
And love was always such a disappointment

And it's good to have you here again
Just like I used to way back then
And it's good to know precisely when
The show's supposed to end

So darling, lay me down and let me down
We're both a good deal older now
We broke some hearts and we broke some vows
And love was always such a disappointment

And my, my, my, how you have grown
So tall upon your stepping stones
Try, try, try not to die alone
But love is always such a disappointment

Well, I told a lot of lies, made a lot of mistakes
I did a lot of living for loving's sake
Guess I was waiting for my big break
And love was always such a disappointment

See, it speaks so sweet in a voice so deep
Of pleasures you can carry and joys you can keep
And there's never been talk so cheap
It's all just one big empty advertisement

So keep that hope in the bottom of the box
The future's just a trick they do with mirrors and clocks
The same soft lens, the same long shots
The same big names, the same big disappointments

And it's good to have you here with me
To reenact this tragedy
The rise and fall of urgency
On one, two, three

So darling, lay me down and let me down
We're both a good deal older now
We broke some hearts and we broke some vows
And love was always such a disappointment

And my, my, my, how you have grown
So tall upon your stepping stones
Try, try, try not to die alone
But love is always such a disappointment

Track Name: The Name of Love

The prophet said, "Don't ever speak the name of love"
As he sat sipping on his whiskey coke
"There ain't no potion, ain't no magic strong enough
To break that kind of spell once it's spoke"

The jukebox started calling to the mourning doves
He crushed a piece of ice between his teeth
He said, "Believe me, boy, don't ever speak the name of love
The name of love will only name your grief"

"Now, King Solomon'll tell you love is vanity
And I guess he'd know, with seven hundred wives
And I don't think I'd survive that kind of anxiety
Even given seven hundred lives

"'Cause love, like any demon you might summon up
It only wants to see your soul in flames
Believe me, boy, don't ever speak the name of love
The name of love'll be chiseled on your chains"

The prophet said, "Don't ever speak the name of love"
And it looked like he was choking back a tear
He said, "You say it once, she says it once, it's not enough
And soon it's all you ever want to hear

"And every word you speak and every gift you give
Is just another boat song of a slave
Believe me, boy, don't ever speak the name of love
The name of love's the stone upon your grave"

Track Name: Sepia Song

Young girl, young girl, what makes your eyes so cold?
And where has your young man gone, so burdened and so bold?
The years drag by, certain things you come to know
The sin of ugliness, the shame of growing old

I loved you so fairly, I loved you so fair
I loved you like I was the only one there
The years drag by, too many years to care
About where it all went wrong, it all goes wrong somewhere

I loved you so fiercely, I loved you so free
I held your body like it was made of me
The years drag by, 'til the years are all you see
Just one long loneliness, where two lonelinesses should be

Young girl, young girl, what makes your eyes so cold?
And where has your young man gone, so burdened and so bold?
The years drag by, it turns out just the way they told you
The sin of ugliness, the shame of growing old

Track Name: Old

You're only as old as your lover
You're only as dark as your dream
Spending your time on women and wine
But they're never as cheap as they seem
No, they're never as cheap as they seem

I used to think I was a young man
Until you walked in here tonight
With your dress cut so low, darling, I grew so old
That I wished I could lay down and die
Yes, I wished I could lay down and die

And nobody loves you like I do
And Lord knows the night is so long
And darling, I already know what your name is
It's always the same as some old, lonesome song
Yes, the same as some old, lonesome song

You're never as tall as your talk is
You're never as clever or brave
So soulful and wise next to most other guys
But you're only as deep as your grave
Yes, you're only as deep as your grave

And nobody loves you like I do
And Lord knows the night is so long
And darling, I already know what your name is
It's always the same as some old, lonesome song
Yeah, the same as some old, lonesome song

Track Name: Let's Go

Good evening, sir, and thanks for stopping
I wasn't sure I'd ever get a ride
It's hot as hell out on this pavement
And there aren't that many cars this time of night

I'm headed east to Corpus Christi
To hang out with my friend, the reverend
I see you're staring at my stitches
Let's just say someone had an accident

I don't believe in love, I don't believe in duty
That's just for folks who get their kicks from sneaking 'round
What I believe in is the way we ache at beauty
And in the pains we take to drag that beauty down

And how I ache, I ache, I ache seeing your body
And it must make you feel so clean to feel forlorn
I don't believe, I don't believe you that you're sorry
But then, your mercy isn't what I came here for

So let's go faith to faith, the one grace I believe in
Before you're forgiven for all our crimes
'Cause if it's dust to dust then let's just trust this breathing
Let me believe in your body one more time

I don't believe in love, I don't believe in duty
They're just the showbiz names for boredom and despair
What I believe in is the way we ache at beauty
And in the pains we take to lay that beauty bare

So let's go faith to faith, the one grace I believe in
Before you're forgiven for all our crimes
'Cause if it's dust to dust then let's just trust this breathing
Let me believe in your body one more time

Track Name: A Hundred Times

The girl who lives inside my head
Sometimes I think she wants me dead
Sometimes she stands so stark and dark and tall
She used to have my mother's face
She likes to put me in my place
She likes to see me weak and keep me small

But lately, love, she looks like you
She likes your face, she likes your beauty
She likes to keep me angry all the time
She likes the way your beauty hurts
Like a gift you know I'll never deserve
Just to throw it in my face that you're never really mine

And love is just another kind of dying
A hole in your heart that grows as time goes by
Like trying to soothe a child who won't stop crying
I've loved you a hundred times, and a hundred times I've died

Sometimes I think I'll search the world
And find some different kind of girl
Such that the enemy in me won't take her name
But then what's the use in such a wish?
I know that no such girl exists
And if she did, I would not want her anyway

And love is just another kind of dying
A hole in your heart that grows as time goes by
Like trying to soothe a child who won't stop crying
I've loved you a hundred times, and a hundred times I've died

Track Name: All the Angry Angels

God said, "Kid, this thing you've done is sick"
Cain said, "Yes, I gave the world its favorite magic trick
I made my brother disappear, now all that's left is what you see here
An offering you'll finally respect"

Well, He made the world with words and man from mud
Cursed the earth with freedom, then He cured it with the flood
He sent the raven, sent the dove, then Jesus brought the curse of love
And His lovers never quench their thirst for blood

And all you Christian soldiers know the world's a holy war
The million-gun salute, the boot on the throat of the poor
And the poor are doing their part to deserve it more and more
And all the angry angels sing the glory of the Lord

I heard your Lord was lost but now He's found
Well, He better never dare show His face on this side of town
The old gods of the avenue will rob Him blind and black and blue
And do unto their neighbor what He'd do un-too

O God of Abe and Ike and Jake and Joe
Release these holy bodies from the prison of the soul
You know that every violence starts somewhere inside these broken hearts
Disfiguring each image as its own

And all you Christian soldiers know the world's a holy war
The million-gun salute, the boot on the throat of the poor
And the poor are doing their part to deserve it more and more
And all the angry angels sing the glory of the Lord

Track Name: Hold You in My Shadow

When the nighttime takes the land, and she darks the works of man
And the screaming of her children is hushed beneath her hand
Honey, stay here like a stone, like a beast upon her throne
And I will hold you in my shadow until the light is gone

By the moon that crawls above and by the fearsome name of love
I will hold you in my shadow like the dark upon the dove
I will linger through this night, I will cling to you so tight
And I will hold you in my shadow and chase away the light

By the stumbling of the stars and by the gods, whoever they are
And by that word of perfect mercy that someone's mumbling from afar
I will linger like a sin, like a mark upon your skin
And I will hold you in my shadow and make you dark again

By the moon that crawls above and by the fearsome name of love
I will hold you in my shadow like the dark upon the dove
I will linger through this night, I will cling to you so tight
And I will hold you in my shadow and chase away the light